Back in 1991, a band from texas going by the name of Dead Horse released their second record called Peaceful Death and Pretty Flowers. I found it to be a complete masterpiece. It blew me a way.

It was so heavy, crunchy and the drums were incredibly fast. Not to mention anyone that does the B52’s Rock Lobster speed metal style is cool with me.

Dead Horse sounds like thrash metal with some grindcore mixed in. They mix elements of death, thrash, bluegrass, country, blues, punk, rockabilly, jazz, and metal into intricately woven, explosive songs. There are plenty of tempo shifts and structure changes to choke a horse…no pun intended. Tight, did I mention tight? The vocals are sung/shouted like James Hetfield meets Kurt Cobain, with some deathly growls mixed in.

I was lucky enough to see Dead Horse in the 7th Street Entry open up for Entombed back in 1992. Dead Horse stole the show. They showed up really late, I thought they weren’t going to show. Finally, at last minute they showed up and kicked ass. The drums were the highlight for me. He made speed look so effortless.

After their set they were hanging out in the First Avenue mainroom while Entombed played. I talked to Michael Haaga and Ronny Guyote. They were super cool. They even gave me a few of their drink tickets.

Entombed did a cover of Dead Horse’s Scottish Hell on their Uprising record. However, they didn’t do it justice.

Unfortunately, after seven years, Dead Horse broke up. Michael Haaga was in Superjoint Ritual for their first record as a bass player. He was replaced by Hank III for whatever reason.

Haaga went on to form The Demonseeds and has released a solo LP with the backing of numerous Houston musicians entitled, The Plus and Minus Show.